Our Latest Posts About: Big Data

We all have a confirmation bias. Unfortunately Big Data, and algorithms make it worse.

We are all hard wired to have at least some confirmation bias. Mosts of the time, we don't even realize it, but it's only natural for us to seek out things that already fit our wold view. If you step on two scales, and one reads 175 pounds, and the second one reads 165, chances are most people would trust the one with the lower weight.

Our confirmation bias tends to strengthen when we are only exposed to information sources that already fit our existing point of view. So, if you have a conservative or liberal point of view, and only read conservative or liberal news sources, this will only feed your bias towards that perspective.

Ever since Google changed their Page Rank algorithm in 2009, web sites can no longer claim to be #1 for any given search term.

One of the most misunderstood things about search engines is the way they rank websites in search results. A website's position in search results can make or break their business, so it's always been important to get the best rank you can.

Because of this, many companies spend a lot of time and money trying to improve their rank. The problem is, no matter how they try, there is no longer a SINGLE #1 site for any particular keyword. That's because Google's now uses at least 60 different factors to determine a site's rank, and most of those factors are based on the personal information they've gathered on the person who's searching.

Because of algorithms, we all live in a Digital Ghetto.

When most of us think of the word "Ghetto", we tend to think of the modern interpretation of a urban slum, but the original meaning has nothing to do with any particular race or community. It was a bit more general.

According to Wikipedia:"A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure. The term was originally used in Venice to describe the part of the city to which Jews were restricted and segregated. The term has been applied in various contexts."

In essence, it's the segregation of a group of people apart from the mainstream because of "social, legal, economic" reasons.

Companies spend millions of dollars trying to figure out what you like. Why not just ask?

Big Data is everywhere, and it's watching everything you do. Retail stores track your purchases whenever you use a credit or loyalty card. Search engines like Google or Bing keep a history of every search you've ever done, and social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn track every post, like, share, and comment. While they may use different techniques to track your activity, they all have one goal in mind, which is to try to guess what kinds of products and services you like so they can target ads to you.

The trouble with Big Data is that even the best system is still just a GUESS.

It doesn't matter how sophisticated their algorithms are, they can never truly know your all... [More]

* Note: The ideas on "Idea of the Day" were posted without any formal research into existing inventions.

In some cases, patents may already exist for these ideas, in other cases, there may not be any existing patents and you are free to develop and explore the viability of developing and patenting the ideas.

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